Flora and Fauna Late December

There are dozens of these coming out in flower right now, but after an hour of looking through books and websites, I haven't yet been able to identify this plant. It grows to about 40-50cm high.

Having had a large huntsman in the house recently (see previous post) and recognising it easily, I was then surprised to find this on a tree trunk and discover it's also a huntsman - a Badge Huntsman (I think!).

We've been moving wood around and clearing up for bushfire safety reasons, but I've found lots of interesting creatures along the way. This leads to photos, which then leads to attempts at identification via the net! I think this is Friedman's Bark Cockroach.

Wildlife in the Hills

A nice big huntsman decided to visit - I think he/she likes the warm bricks at night. Hopefully he/she won't make a habit of it! I like them better outside where they belong.
We have had some trees cut down recently for bushfire safety (way too close to the house - less than 5 metres) and found some caterpillars on the trees.
This is caterpillar 2 - also about 3 inches long.

Late spring arrivals

As the rain continues, there are ever more plants springing up all over the place that I have never seen in the area before. This is fireweed, which has grown previously but now we have massive plants over a metre high everywhere.

Wasn't sure what this was initially, but it is only growing in the swampy areas (which we haven't had in ten years) - it's called Swamp Isotome.

And the kangaroo apple is flowering again, plus there are two more little ones growing. Lo and behold, all around the plant the grass is flattened where the kangaroos have been laying around - probably waiting for the fruit!